HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania families across the income spectrum could receive more than $2.5 billion in tax breaks by 2028 under two bills that passed the state House last week. The proposals passed with bipartisan support, but they might not survive the GOP-controlled state Senate, a fate that showcases the political tensions at play as new Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and the split legislature attempt to negotiate a spending plan by the June 30 deadline.

Pennsylvania’s coffers are full. The state has roughly $12 billion in cash reserves accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly a result of income taxes on increased corporate profits and expanded federal spending that augmented state budgets and upped individual tax payments.

But the state’s Independent Fiscal Office, which analyzes Pennsylvania’s finances, predicts revenue shortfalls over the next five years will roughly equal the state’s current windfall. State lawmakers constantly battle over whether to spend or to save. But Democrats now control a legislative chamber and are bringing their own priorities to the table, a shift from budget skirmishes under former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

“My thing is, how do you defend keeping so much of the taxpayer dollars in Harrisburg and not making the investments that we know we need to make?” state House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris (D., Philadelphia) told Spotlight PA.